Masonic Notes And Queries.

O , Abraham ! O , Abraham 1 lay no hand upon the lad , God sent him unto thee to make thy heart right-glad ; Thy seed shall increase like stars in the sky , And thy soul into heaven like Gabriel shall fry . O , never , O , never Avill I hear an orphan cry , Nor yet a gentle virgin , until the day I die j You Avandeiiiig Jeivs , that travel the Avide Avorld round ,

May knock at the door where truth is to be found . Often ' gainst the Turks and infidels we fight , To let the wondering Avorld know Ave ' ro in the right ; Por in heaven there ' s a lodgo , and St . Peter keeps the door , And none can enter in but those that are pure . St . Peter he openeel , and so Ave entered in , into the holy seatsecureAvhich is all free from sin ;

, , Sfc . Peter he openeel , and so Ave entered there , And the glory of the temnle no man can conmarc ? . —Ex . Ex . THE LILY AS AS EMllLEir .. Is the lily used as an emblem amongst Masons ? it Avas one of the principal ornaments of Solomon ' s Temple . —P . A . —[ See Dr . Oliver ' s Signs and Symbols , jagc 107 . J

AVHEN EAUTH ' S 1 'OUMIATIOS " . Who wrote the Avords of the hyinu sung at the consecration of lodges , beginning" AVhen earth's foundation first was laid , By the Almighty Artist's hand , 'Twas then our perfect UAVS were made Establish'd by his strict command . "

—AUTIITJK TmJEiOA-j- . ItAJJOUB ASD IfElTiESiOaS-ST . Did not fche old lodges cease labour and go to refreshment in the middle of their work , similar to our system of calling off , and if that Avas their method , did they closo thc lodge and dine or sup afterwards , as AVO do ?—CHANCY . —[ In Scotland and in some places in England to tho pi-esont day , thc lodge is called off and light refreshment served in tho lodge room . ]

Notes On Literature Science And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE SCIENCE AND ART .

Br . Challice , in his Secret Hislorg of ihe Court of France under Louis XV ., thus relates the presentation of the Chateau de Meiiclon to Madame de Pompadour : — " One fine day in the month of May , when tho Marquise was driving Irani Serves Avith the King to the Chateau de Meudon , where they were staying , to be in the vicinity oc the works , she caught sight of a Ai-ooded ' height crowned by a heath .

Having ascended , she clapped her hands , and ivifch the spontaneousness of quick appreciation that was part of her artistic nature , cried out , ' Oh ! the beautiful view i' This view extended over the Seine , St . Cloud , Versailles , and even to Sfc . Germain's . The King marked her delight , and ivas not sloiv to execute a plan that placed tho ' beautiful view' at her own disposal ; nud upon the upland heath there soon arose that fiiirv-ualnccAvhich was knownbefore the

, , EcA-olution , as ' Belle Vv . e ' : ' it need not he said how , to do justice to the King ' s chivalric gift , tho Marquise convoked the best of those architects , painters , decorators , anel landscape-gardeners sho had assembled in Prance . The King himself had never shown such enthusiasm in any work as in this he designed to her honour , and she as the chef-d'eeuvre of his kingdom . The building commenced the 30 fch of June , 1748 , and ivas finished , under royal auspices , in "

1750 . The interior of fche chateau was wonderful for its marbles , pictures , and statues , its music-gallery , & c . When finished , the Marquise invited the King to visit her ' there . She prepared a file for his reception . " The Critic remarks : — "Tom Panic's name has curiously cropped up again , and in such a manner as to do fche author of The Jjje of Season no discredit . A visifcoi at tho South Kensington Museum , whom '

Ave have little difficulty in classing among the' unco guid , ' received a rude shock the other day , when , after comtemplating for some minutes with much pleasure the features of an ehlerlv gentleman of a peculiar benevolent cast of countenance , he referred to his catalogue . The murder was out at once . The benevolentlooking gentleman was no other than Tom Paine . Of course we need hardly say that , as soon as tho visitor made this discovery , he

also found that he hail renil tho lines of the thee in the said portrait quite erroneously . Examined more closely , the benevolent smile was clearly cynical , and under the apparent frankness of countenance was cloaked au amount of artfulness more than Jesuitical . AVe need hardly say that the outraged visitor rushed hastily into the . reading-room , purchased a sheefc of note-paper and a stamp , -and wrote forthwith to the editor of the Record r . eu'spapciv

, suggesting that tho portrait should bo instantly removed , and thafc of ' Mr . Spurgcon ( painted by subscription ) he placed in its stead . On investigation , hou'ever , the matter turns out to be ns folioivs : Tom Paiiie ' s portrait was placed in thc Museum of Patents at South Kensington ( marked No . 10 ) , because , amongst other things , he Avas tho inventor ot iron bridges and arched structures , he having caused to be wrought , as an experiment , a malleable iron arch of used

. ' ¦ Sit . Orn . span aboufc thc year 1700 , which ivas subsequently in the construction of the ' bridce over fche Wear afc Wcirmonth . Thus Tom Paine's right to a place in the Museum of Patents ivas incoutcstibly proveeL It seems , too , a matter of douht how far Mr . fcipuvgeoiv ' s portrait is ndnrissablo to tho same room , seeing that he had net made any notable discovery , save , indeed , the way to attract cveriloAYing " congregations to his church , chapel , or tabernacle . "

Sir Ihilph Abercromby ' s first presentation at a levee is thus described by his son , the late James , Lord Dunfermline , in a recentlypublished life of the hrave and honest soldier : — " When Sir llalph retailed to London he naturally presented himself on the first occasion at the King ' s levee . The attendance at levees was then so limited that the King walked about and spoke to rliosejvho Avere present in such oroer as he chose . Several times the King

came very close to Sir Palph , and always turned aside , so thafc Sir Italph be ' sau fco think that the King did not intend to notice him . At last , luiivevei-, the King came and addressed these ivcrds to him : ' They have nseil yon very ill in Ireland , and you are IIOAV going to Scotland , where thev will know how to respect yon , and treat you better . ' When the ' lving retired into his closet , he said to one of his ministers , < I Avatebec ! my opportunity , when certain Irish

politicians were' within hearing , and I took good care that they should be in no doubt as to my opinion of Sir Kalph and his conduct . '" Mr . p . G . Pelamotte ' s Medieval Alphabets and Initials for Illuminators , just published , contains an introduction , by Mv . J . Willis Brooks , who says : — " There is a normal or typical form for every letter—a form Avhich may he turned and twisted , expanded , contracted , ornamented , and enriched in fifty different Avays , but AA'hich

is still , in essence and principle , thc same . This ought to he more especially borne in mind iu a Avork like the present , treating chiciiy of initials . Were this principle more kept in view by modern illuminators Ave should not have fche AVIIICIOAVS of some artists' colourmen's shops disfigured by dislocated productions at Avhich common , sense revolts unci good " taste shudders , and which remind one strongly of the remarkable composition introduced by the country parish clerk as ' an hymn of mine oivn composing / The right Avay to acquire an acquaintance ivith this normal or typical form of

each letter is to collate and compare specimens taken from diilcrent periods from the tenth to the fifteenth century . As , however , such a process involves , in many instances , a greater devotion of time and attention than is at every one's disposal , care has been taken in the present AA-ork to seleetfhafc class of character Avhich tends most directly to develop tiie normal form . Afc tho same time an endeavour has been made to choose ivifch . judgment . AVhk all our repect for mediraval taste AVO utterly repudiate the not uncommon

, theory , that- whatever is old is good ! There were faults oi' drawing and colour in old clays as r . oiv , -. aid the facia daubers of tho nineteenth century had their counterparts in tho vulgar , flashy , tasteless spoilers of good vellum in the sixteenth . Par onr selection our own taste is responsible . In the largo majority of instances thc letters have been literally copied from Avorks of ascertained authority ; in some , the principles deduced from many yer . -. ' . ; ' study of

such Avorks lm-o been made the basis of original P'sgu , The specimens selected begin with the ninth ane ) tenth cenir . ries , when it seems to have been " more the custom to deal with tlie initial letter itself , and , 'whilst preserving its normal form , to expand , prolong-, and eievelope ifc into graceful convolutions of foliage or ocher ornamentation , treated conventionally . As Ave progress , Ifcivillhoibuncl that the letter gradually resumes its simplicity of form , and that

the ornamentation is kestoived on its background , or entourage . Ifc will be observed tiiat as early as fche fourteenth century tho initial had began to assume the character of a simple outline laid on a rich background , rather than that of a form contorted unci developed so as to ' become iu itself an ornament . Prom this elate down to the close of the era of true art in illumination thc tendency appears to have been steadily in this direction , though occasional outbreaks of excellent—not to ' say exquisite—taste are still from time to time to be detected , especially in tho Italian school , which bestows an